Ember and Blood
Darkness blacker than the thickest midnight. That was all that could be seen. An orange dragon was striding through the cavern. He had a certain confident swagger, almost as if he knew the place by heart. Yet his eyes betrayed this notion to be false, as he was surveying the stone around him with an ignorant curiosity. He had a checked red-and-maroon bandana and a brown satchel slung across his shoulder, as well as a brimmed hat with a single golden feather resting in it. He approached a part of the cave wall, reaching up and stroking the rock appreciatively. He didn't seem to notice the two golden eyes watching him, until he said, "So then, you're this mountain dragon, right?" The dark dragon seemed taken aback at first, but only for a split moment. Then it was gone, replaced with an interrogative glare. Who are you? Why are you here?" The shadow dragon grumbled. "Me? I'm Amber. And why I'm here? Well, I heard a rumor of a dangerous, mentally unstable dragon that resided in these caves." The dark dragon snorted. "Mentally unstable, eh? So, are you here to kill me and spike my head on a stake? Trust me, I've had plenty of those before, and I'm not afraid to kill stupid dragons who think they can slay me. Amber seemed insulted by this notion. "No, of course not. I could try, of course. I brought my favorite silver crescent dagger for this occasion just in case, but I never attack unprovoked. No, I came to talk about magic." The dark dragon gave Amber an odd look. After a moment, there was another snort from the shadow dragon, but this time there came a light with it, a dancing flame that erupted over the cave walls, gleefully consuming the reeling darkness. The once-shadowed dragon was now illuminated and holding a torch. His black scales glinted with crimson highlights, his eyes still furrowed in the strange look. "Come with me," he said, and then he turned and started walking down a previously un-visible tunnel. Amber eagerly followed. The tunnel opened up into a large, carved room. The rock had been chiseled to be slightly concave, with lots of shelves lined across the wall. The torch-wielding dragon stuck the torch in a brazier and strided off to a shelf. Amber looked around for a moment, his expression mildly curious but not too investigative. He remarked, "Quite the place you got here." The dark dragon grunted something suspiciously sounding like a "Thank you." Amber grinned, earning himself an eyeroll from the other dragon. "So, how long have you been under here?" The dragon snorted. "Do you think I keep track?" Amber walked over to a calendar that had been engraved into the wall. A small painted dot was stationed on the date. "Yeah, actually, I think you do." The dragon glared over his shoulder at Amber for a moment, then turned back and continued to busy himself with the shelves. "So, what's your name? "My name is my business." "Oh, come on!" "Fine. I am Bloodbather. "Huh, spooky name." "Whatever." Silence laid thick over the cavern for a long moment, finally broken by Amber. "I know you're an animus." Bloodbather whipped around, upsetting some of the items on the shelf. His eyes were narrowed in a ferocious glare, his lips drawn in a snarl. Amber blinked. "OK then, touchy subject I suppose" "Do you know how it feels? To be powerful? To be dangerous?! To be an outcast!?!" Amber thought for a minute, scratching his chin scales. "Actually, yes. At least that last one. Nobody in Pyrrhia likes an adventurer SkyWing." "I don't mean being an outcast because you're a weirdo." Amber looked genuinely hurt by that remark. "Wow, THAT was uncalled for. The heck, bro?" Bloodbather seemed like he regretted that statement too, but barely showed it. "Animus is not just something you throw about. It's incredibly dangerous. That's why I came down here. To protect everyone else." Amber looked confused. "You just said you were an outcast. Are you, or did you just outcast yourself?" Bloodbather snarled. "I'm tired of your pointless questions! Tell me why you came down here!" "I came down here for a map." "The answer is no. Now shoo." Amber made a tut-tutting sound. "I need a magical map. And seeing as you're the only living animus at the moment who is both sane and not turning to stone, you have to enchant it." "I'm not going to waste my sanity on your pathetic adventure." "What if I said it could help preserve your sanity?" Bloodbather's glare turned from furious to intrigued in a split second. "Tell me more." "Weeeeeell, there are fabled to be seven magical totems, each animus enchanted. They restore any lost sanity and keep it from decreasing as long as it is in your possession." Bloodbather's look was hungry. "Seven? One for each tribe?" "Bingo. Each one is a delicate carving of the tribe it represents. Currently, I'm searching for the SkyWing totem, but the MudWing totem would be very close by. If you enchant a map to depict say, oh I don't know, where all seven were, then I could grab all of them." Bloodbather shook his head. "I'll only do two. One for you, one for me. When you get them both, return here as soon as possible. Understand?" "Got it." Bloodbather turned and began searching for parchment. Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete) Category:Fanfictions (Fanon) Category:Fanfictions